We’ve previously seen the Android OS partially running on 4 WinMo powered HTC handsets.  There are various issues still to be resolved, like Bluetooth is not working correctly and the camera not working.  Well, there is now a video of the HTC Touch Pro2 running Android OS published by the guys over at PocketNow.

Most of the major functions of the device are already working like calls, data, SMS, the Android Market and more.

Currently,  the Touch Pro2 is only available on Sprint.

If you want to know more, then watch the video:

Source: Pocket now

The one and only Android device on Vodafone, the HTC Tattoo is confirmed to be getting Android 2.1 by HTC.  The HTC Tattoo is a low-end Android handset and very simple in design but it does come with Sense UI.  I hope this time it’s true and the update will be available soon. Maybe in a month or so.

“Kindly note that now we understand that a phone running Android OS 2.1 is available that you are excited to get an update for your Tattoo. We are still working hard to Sense for building this new version but we expect to have the upgrade finished and ready to go soon. Please understand that it takes time to customize any Android release to Ensure You Have The Sense provides intuitive experience, and we hope you can be patient for just a little while longer.” said HTC.

So folks! are you happy now?

Source: Android Community

Is there a cold war going on between Motorola and Google?  Motorola today announced that from this quarter, Microsoft’s Bing will provide search and maps services on its Chinese Android-based smartphones. As you may already know, MS Bing is a true rival to Google. In China, Baidu is the most popular search engine.  According to the Wall Street Journal,  they say that Motorola is planning for a future when Google may pull out of China.

“We believe that consumer choice is one of the most critical components to ensuring a rich and seamless client experience. Motorola and Microsoft have enjoyed a longstanding collaboration and the addition of Bing services to our Android-based smartphones in China is another important step in empowering our end-users.”Christy Wyatt, Corp VP of software and services, Motorola Mobile Devices.”

As you may know, Microsoft launched their first app for Android a week ago and I think Microsoft paid Motorola a lot… more than Google would.  I think that Microsoft knows that the Android OS will conquer the mobile world soon, so they are establishing a relationship with Android.

Keep it up Microsoft. I wish you would discontinue WinMo and join Android.

What do you think people?

Source: Computer World

We’ve heard a lot about the HTC Hero getting an  Android 2.1 update soon, but when? First, we heard it 2 months ago that the Android 2.1(Eclair) for HTC Hero is a couple of month away, and then during the Mobile World Congress HTC CEO announced that all Hero devices will get Android 2.1 and Latest Sense UI.  Anyone know the exact date? It was expected in March and now we are now half way through the month.

A member of Swedroid received a reply from HTC Sweden with another date!  They state that the Android 2.1 is expected sometime in April but this release is not set in stone.

We know that HTC is considering some new Android device’s, the HTC Legend & Desire, and it appears they are not giving time to Hero.

I hope they will release it soon.

Source: HTC Hero Blog

This affects G1 owners only; emails are being sent out to those of you who signed up to participate in the new service to manage calls and voicemail on your Android phone. Here’s what to expect:

Features of Voice Plus Beta:

• Call Divert: Carve out a little peace and quiet by sending selected numbers straight to voicemail without ringing your phone.
• Call Defer: Let callers know you’re busy and schedule a convenient time for you to call them back.  Send them a text message that acknowledges their call and that you will respond at a later time.
• Visual Voicemail: Easily manage your voicemail! View a list of who left a voicemail, with the time of the message and its length.  Choose which to listen to now and which to review later.
• City ID: Get more information about the calls you receive.  The city and state information of incoming calls is displayed.

Between Google Voice and standard settings, this doesn’t offer anything I would be willing to wipe my phone for. Oh yes, if you want to get the Beta, you will need to update the G1’s software, wiping your phone in the process.  T-Mobile does provide a few steps to walk you through the process so you can backup your data.  If you run into any snags, you’re advised to not call Customer Care. Instead take your problems to the Voice Plus Beta forums.

[Source, AndroidGuys, T-Mobile]

As usual, you can click the image below to see all the screens available.

When your done with the screenshots, you can head over to BenBuchacher’s AndroidSPIN Developer Homepage for more information and downloads.

The specs have also been refreshed since we last saw the device. The Snapdragon processor has been underclocked to 768 MHz (presumably to save battery), but the RAM has doubled to 512 MB (just like the N1). Also getting a bump is the camera which now features 8 megapixels instead of 5.

No other sites have reported this, but I’ve been told we should expect to see the Incredible on another CDMA carrier besides Verizon. The phone is expected to be announced during CTIA and be released sometime before summer.

Update: The good thing about posting rumors is someone always calls you out on your mistakes. Apparently the Incredible is very near to release and several production models are floating around. You can still consider this a “rumor” but I’ve been told the RAM and ROM both received a significant boost. Early prototypes included only 256 MB RAM, but the latest revision has 1 GB RAM (just like the rumored Supersonic). I’ve also been told the CPU will do 1 GHz, but it throttles up and down just like every other Android phone.

Rumored specs of the HTC Incredible include:

• 1 GHz Snapdragon processor QSD8650
• 3.7 inch AMOLED screen WVGA resolution
• 6 GB ROM, 1 GB RAM
• 8 MP camera with dual LED flash and AF
• Android 2.1 with Sense UI
• Optical track pad
• 1300 mAh battery
• Shipping with 8GB MicroSDHC card
• FM Tuner
• Dimensions: 117.5 mm (L) x 58.5 mm (w) x 11.9 mm (T)

Source: AndroidandMe

HTCClay has released an update to his Htcclay FastTest ROM taking it to version 3.00

Hey guy’s…
Sorry for all the issues with v2.9…
Went back to Super D base.
3.0 is stable and stupid fast!
I recommend a wipe if coming from 2.9…
Enjoy

Needed:

- G1/MT3G. Haykuro spl needed for G1
- wipe needed <= 2.7
- no wipe 2.8
- >=2.9 wipe

Head over to HTCClay’s AndroidSPIN Developer Homepage for more information and downloads.

For aditional support and to talk with the author, head over to HTCClay’s Forum.

JetserDroid has released a new ROM / Theme combination based on CyanongenMOD v4.2.15.1.  Yes it the full CyanogenMOD pre themed by JesterDroid using Pandora graphics and colors.  Looks pretty cool to me.

-CyanogenMod v4.2.15.1
-Custom Boot Screen
-Custom Battery Meter
-Custom Market Icon
-Modified Launcher w/Avatar Wallpaper
-Modified Framework w/Custom Status Notifiers
Apply this on top of newest Cyanogen Mod 1.6 Donut Installations.
Enjoy!

Head over to JesterDroid’s AndroidSPIN Developer Homepage for more information and downloads.  For aditional support and to talk with the author, head over to JesterDroid’s Forum.

Have you thought about a tie? You’ll also be covered for a certain green-themed holiday coming up soon.

Over in our forums you’ll find Android gifts of all kinds, for her as well as him. Or you can just treat yourself to a little something.

Peter Wayner, technology writer, author, and iPhone developer was given a Nexus One to experiment with for a few weeks. In a lengthy but interesting article at InfoWorld, he detailed his experiences and impressions. The short version; Peter thought highly of Android. So much that he flat out states Android is a better tool for programmers and their enterprise employers than other devices on the market.

As with any other review, he starts with the obvious superficial comparisons but quickly moves to the meat of things:

The Android line is now competitive enough that the casual user may look at the two platforms and assume they’re twins. Both let you call people and fire up a number of apps by mashing your finger into one of an endless matrix of square icons. Both let you pull up Web pages. To my unsophisticated eye, the iPhone interfaces still look a bit prettier, but for most basic uses, iPhone and Android are as similar as Ford and Mercury or Coke and Pepsi.

…While iPhone developers have found that one path to success is playing to our baser instincts (until Apple shuts them down), a number of Android applications are offering practical solutions that unlock the power of a phone that’s really a Unix machine you can slip into your pocket.

It’s almost a given that anyone who talks about Android is going to mention the term open source. For the Android community, open source is second nature. Still, it gives a thrill when someone finally gets that it’s more than just tweaking functionality and realizes potential of open source.

Android’s relative absence of barriers was apparent again and again as I played with the Nexus One. At first I was a bit skeptical that anyone would do much with the open source license. Did it really make sense to reprogram the UI or the functionality if you’re just going to take a few calls and check email? But some folks are relentless tinkerers, and they’re building new Android distros. These are a long way from the Linux LiveCD ecosystem, but I can see this avenue being useful for an enterprise that wants to put a nice custom interface on top of Android hardware.

For the programmer, the advantages of the open ecosystem were apparent from the beginning. While it took me several days to get the keys sorted out when I first hooked up an iPod Touch to the Apple Xcode IDE, I actually got the “Hello World” test working on the Nexus One before I fired up the simulator. Eclipse just noticed the Nexus One was hooked up to my PC, then started up the code. I glanced over and my new app was just running.

Here is another place where Google’s approach is so much saner than Apple’s decision to wrap a nasty nondisclosure agreement around its SDK. As Apple would have it, programmers can’t talk to other people, such as bosses and investors, about the iPhone and iPad capabilities unless those folks pay the cash and join the developer program. And is it really possible to call something nonpublic if anyone with $99 can get a copy of the SDK? Is this really what the law means by taking reasonable precautions to protect the so-called trade secrets? Go ask Apple’s lawyers

Still there are issues. Namely Java being both blessing and burden, and the issue of fragmentation coming up yet again. Java’s far-reaching flexibility is a great thing for developers, but Peter found it a bit too unwieldy at times.

It’s also important to recognize that a wide variety of options need explicit permission, and you must declare this in the AndroidManifest.xml file. On several occasions, my code wouldn’t run simply because I forgot to turn on the permission to use the camera. Yet the error messages never said something like, “Go edit the manifest, doofus.” This configuration, by the way, is implemented with a precision that programmers will love but might leave end-users a bit befuddled. There’s one XML tag that enables the camera, while another enables the autofocus on the camera.

There are deeper issues that suggest how difficult it will be for Google to maintain consistency between the various phones. Some commenters at the Android marketplace have already developed a shorthand for buggy software that crashes: FC for Force Close. Some code that works on the Droid will “FC” on the Nexus One.

For the most part however, Peter seems to be genuinely won over by Android, though he isn’t giving up his iPhone just yet (emphasis ours).

This interaction with the cloud will be a question for the future. Right now, it seems that Apple won over the latte-sipping fashion plates who love the endless stream of cute games. Apple’s decision to court the game developers is paying off in some amazing titles, but the Android platform is a real workhorse. Anyone who wants to do more than play games will find a huge range of possibilities in the Android platform.

While Apple is reportedly fixing some of the worst problems with the App Store process, the Android world avoids most of them by giving people the freedom to use the platform as they want. Considering that people have been using this freedom relatively successfully with PCs for decades, it’s a welcome opportunity in the world of handhelds.

You can read the full article at Infoworld.

[Source Infoworld]

Ever wanted to go biking but didn’t know your way? Google has fixed that with its latest update to Google Maps.

The new bicycling layer for Google Maps, accessible via the “More…” drop down menu at the top of the map, will display an overlay of the various bike-friendly roads and trails around town. The layer is color-coded to show three different types of paths:

• Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
• Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
• Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.

A new partner ship with “Rails to Trails” will bring more trails.

Google has partnered with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit that creates networks of trails from former rail lines, to provide information on bike trails in more than 150 cities.

Click HERE to check out biking maps.

Have you tried out this feature? Tell us your opinion in the comments.

Source:Google Press Center

Some people who own a G1 on the TMobile network may notice a update, here’s what a TMobile Rep had to say:

We are aware some T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile myTouch 3G customers have received an over-the-air update. It was sent to a small, controlled pilot and is not yet available to all customers. The update (DMD64) is intended to improve the phone’s call performance and is NOT Éclair.

We will post updates to these Forums with more information when the software upgrade is available to all T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile myTouch 3G customers.

This has no noticeable GUI changes, mainly changes to the call quality.

Have you received the update? Tell us what it changed on your phone in the comments.

Source:TMobile forums

LG is set to release their first Android handset in South Korea. It will be known as LG Andro-1 or KH5200.

It’s looking as though South Korea may be the next big mobile market. With more than three quarters of the country’s population being mobile phone users, look for more cellphone manufacturers to set up shop in South Korea.

Last week in South Korea, Motorola launched the MotoROI and last year, Apple launched the iPhone. Samsung is set to release a handset with Android 2.1 in a couple weeks. It appears as though LG wants their piece but they have some stiff competition. I say, Step up your game, LG.

This may be a hint that they plan to heed that advice:

LG, which wants to secure a double-digit share in the global smartphone market by 2012, hopes to defend falling phone margins with some 20 premium smartphone offerings based on the Android operating system this year.

The LG Andro-1 features:

• Android 1.5
• Qwerty Keyboard
• 3” HVGA screen with a 320×480 resolution
• 2MP Camera
• Social Networking Integration
• GPS, HSDPA, HSUPA, EDGE, GRPS, SNS
• Radio Tuner
• MP3 Player
• Additional memory cards up to 32Gb

The phone will be available thru carrier KT and cost $530 or free on a contract paying $40/month or more.

What do you think? Leave us a comment.

Source: Akihabara News

The guys over at Engadget have some news on the Motorola i1. Also known as Opus One.

Apparently the i1 will come equipped with a 5MP camera and not the previously mentioned 3MP. It’s also rumored to have Opera Mini as the default browser. This is another of Motorola’s Android powered (Blur) devices sans Google. Will this be a trend in their future releases?

It looks as though the handset will be launched in the near future for Sprint Direct Connect and Boost Mobile customers.

Let us know what you think. Leave a comment.

Source: Engadget

The wait is over! While Opera Mini 5 is still in beta, it proves to be typically speedy browser that will work on Any Android device. Opera Mini 5 Beta comes with tabbed browsing, speed dial bookmarks, download manager, password manager. A helpful extra feature allows bookmark syncing between your Android device and your desktop.

Opera Mini 5 beta is available on the Android Market, by going to m.opera.com/next, or scanning the QR code.

[Source AndroidCentral, Opera]

The HTC/Google Nexus One is an awesome phone, but it sounds like everyone is still having major radio issues.  I know I frequently have issue’s when I’m driving through a certain spot on my way home from work.  I’ll frequently drop calls and when I look at my phone,  there will be NO data connection what-so-ever.

What is the problem and why is it taking so long for the team of HTC, Google and T-Mobile to work out a solution?  At least they are all admitting that there is a problem and they are working on a solution.

We’ve had an official ERE27 radio update that everyone received, and from my experience, did nothing to help with the issue.  We’ve also had the Leaked ERE36b radio and I’ve tried that one which appeared to be worse for me.

If you want any if these radios, you can download the packaged update ZIP file’s from Enomther below:

ERE27 Radio Version 4.03.00.21

ERE36B Radio Version 4.04.00.03

* Remember that you need a rooted Nexus On to install these updates.

My partner in crime, Allen, also has the same issue on his Nexus One that he’s had for just 3 days.  He’s been on the phone with T-Mobile who said “Everything is fine sir” and passed him on to Google Technical Support.  Google Technical Support proceeded to inform him that the problem is related to applications and that some applications are breaking the radio.

After trying many alternative solutions to get his data connection restored, they eventually asked him to do a factory reset and completely clean out his phone to ensure that no residual application settings or components where left on the phone.  It worked immediately.

Now, I’m no hardware or operating system guru, but my understanding is that the actual radio driver is protected from the applications by the RIL.

From Wikepedia:

The Android Open Source Project provides a Radio Interface Layer (RIL) between Android telephony services (android.telephony) and the radio hardware.

Isn’t this supposed to protect the hardware from the operating system and prevent applications corrupting things like the radio drivers themselves?

So are Google saying that android is so unstable that installing applications can botch the radio?

Any Android OS experts or hardware geeks out there care to comment?  We’d love to hear from you!

It has been confirmed by CSPAN that Martin Cooper, the inventor of the cell phone, is an official member of the Android Community. You can follow Martin on Twitter, his twitter ID is @MartyMobile.

Martin gave his iPhone to his grandson in favor of a Motorola Droid. Good move Martin! What better of an endorsement to the Android Community than the inventor of the cell phone picking up an Android phone. I wonder if Martin’s phone is rooted? Could he be running the latest 2.1 custom ROM all theme’d out?

The big question now is, will Martin dump his Motorola Droid when the Nexus One hits Verizon? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

[via Android Central]

As the Dell Mini 5 release draws ever closer, more and more details emerge about this product. This ad here proves most of the specifications we’ve seen such as the 5 inch screen with a resolution of 800×480, 30 pin docking connector, capacitive touch buttons at the front, a 5 mega-pixel with auto focus and flash, and a front camera for video chatting. Well this ad boasts that the Dell Mini will be released in various colors, along with consumer choices for a personal color scheme or design. That possibly means you can upload a picture and have it printed on your Dell Mini 5, or allows your friends to buy one for you on your birthday with an embarrassing picture of you, passed out on the floor after a party.

This second image, confirms a final name for the Dell Mini called Streak. Not to mention Dell has partnered with Amazon, allowing a nice Kindle application giving you access to the latest books from Amazon, Amazon MP3 which is currently included in Android products, and other Amazon products that involve digital property. Now all we need is a final price, and release date on this beauty.

[via Engadget]

According to Tether, this app will allow you fast transfer speeds from your phone to your computer giving you a stable, and fast connection. With the Blackberry version running on both Mac and Windows it’s safe the assume that this will also run on both.

If you would like to sign up for the pre-release beta, make sure to head here with your email, phone, and carrier ready for input.

[via Androinica]

Stefan Constantinescu over at IntoMobile has been using his Nexus for the last month and has written a real nice, informative summary of his experience with the new device.  One thing I definitely agree with is the missing hardware buttons… I miss them.  He has a lot more to say in his review though.

I’ve been using the Google Nexus One exclusively since February 10th, and after one month of getting to know most, if not all, of the capabilities of my shiny new toy, I figure it’s time to share some thoughts about the device itself, and the software it runs. Now before you dive into this review, let me make a few things clear. The Nexus One is my first Android device, my first touch screen device, my first Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) Snapdragon powered device, and most importantly, it’s a device I purchased with my own money. This is my smartphone, not a review unit I have to return.

Read the full review over at IntoMobile.

Source: IntoMobile

Take a gander at that. In just three short months, Android grew an impressive 4% with the competition not even coming close to catching up. Go Android. Why the huge jump? You can thank the Droid, which was released in October. Droid should really be sending thank you notes to it’s marketing department about now.

It will be interesting to see how this chart changes once Nexus One sales are accounted for. Head over to comScore to see more graphs, including what people do with their smartphones

[Source AndroidCentral, comScore]

Well today was the first photo I’ve seen from Cyanogen showing the mass of pig meat that showed up on his door.

Awesomeness…. This is what the Android community is all about.  Feeding the starving developers…. LOL

In all seriousness, these guys are all major contributors to the Android community and our thanks go out to all of you from the AndroidSPIN team.

The new app will be quite similar to the hack used in Louder Volume Hack, except taken to the next level, by offering fully-configurable Equalizer settings through the headset, which wasn’t available in Louder Volume Hack, and should make everyone who uses their android device as a Portable Music Player quite happy. Meltus is currently doing testing, and has been hard at work tweaking the various configurations (Rock, Bass, and Treble) to ensure they all produce top quality audio through the headset.

He is currently releasing beta versions of the EQ app, and has released various different configurations for users to test in order to receive feedback to properly tune the equalizer. Feel free to check out his Twitter feed for the latest updates and configurations.

On a similar note, Meltus is also hard at work attempting to get Louder Volume Hack working on Nexus, so look forward to something N1-compatible soon.

Its confirmed Rogers has added the Samsung Galaxy Spica to its Android Line up, the site dosnt say what version of Android its running. Here’s the specs:

It comes boxed with:

• Battery
• Stereo Headset
• Travel Charger
• DataCable
• 2GB Micro SD Card

Pricing:

$79.99 CDA – 3Year Contract

$349.99 CDA – 2Year Contract

$399.99 CDA – 1Year Contract

$499.99 CDA Flatout

Source:Rogers

Do you own a Samsung Galaxy? Tell us what you think of it or Rogers in the comments!

A post on evernotes site says:

We have some pretty exciting news to announce today. Evernote for Android is now bundled on new Samsung Android phones from T-Mobile US, including the Samsung Behold II. So, if you’ve been eyeing that shiny new Behold II, now’s a great time to grab one for yourself.

For those of you that are already proud owners of these phones, you have received, or will soon receive, an update that automatically installs Evernote.

 And another quote in the press release says:

“We’re incredibly excited to be working closely with Samsung on their line of Android phones. Android represents Evernote’s fastest growing mobile platform. This partnership helps Evernote reach a huge new audience with our promise of perfect memory for everyone,” said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote.

 Do you think they should include this app? Or should they make it a option upon setup? Tell us what you think in the comments.

 Source:Evernote Blog & Press Release

Need a Desktop Cradle for you HTC/Google Nexus One?  The Mobi Products Desktop Cradle is available on the AndroidSPIN Store.

The Mobi Products Cradle with spare battery slot for HTC Google Nexus One let’s you easily charge your Smartphone and a spare battery at the same time. Easily synchronize and charge your HTC Google Nexus One with any USB-enabled computer. Just connect the cradle to your computer’s USB and you’re set! The HTC Google Nexus One is charged through your computer’s USB port.

The cradle features a spare battery charger – great to have if you have multiple batteries. If you want to use the cradle’s spare battery charger, you also need to connect the bundled AC adapter. The AC adapter does not charge your device, it only provides power to the battery slot.

Head over to the AndroidSPIN store for more information.

Does this mean the HTC Desire will hit T-Mobile soon?

It’s a rumor but i can see the truth in it. The Desire is almost similar to the Nexus One but the Desire comes with an optical track-pad, unlike the Nexus One.  We already heard that Verizon is training their employees for the Nexus One.  I think this must be training month.

If T-Mobile launches the Desire, T-Mobile will be the carrier with the most powerful Android handsets in America.

We know that HTC Desire is hitting T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, according to this rumor, T-Mobile UK will launch the Desire on March 26. No words on Orange date.

So you guys who were disappointed last time. I think this is good news for you !

Source: Androincia

We all love Gmail as well as Google’s tendency to keep things running as smoothly as possible. But snafus do happen; all that data is stored in “the cloud” on Google servers in what some consider the most state-of-the-art, redundant and reliable network of data centers located all over the globe.  Your personal data is syncing with out a hitch.  After all, if you can’t rely on what is arguably the largest, most talent rich of cloud providers in the world, who can you rely on?

A quick Google search — yes, I understand the irony — reveals that there are plenty of people, who, like you and many other Android users, thought that their data was safe with Google – only to find that their sense of security was false.  With just a little planning, research and sweat, you can avoid a similar fate and further protect your data.

Kevin Wright goes on to detail his process:

I own a small hosting and web design/consulting business and rent server resources from a data center.  On that server, I have installed getmail along with a few custom configuration files based on those described by Googler Matt Cutts‘ blog posting. The files tell getmail where to pull my email from; in this case, from the Gmail servers, using a secure IMAP connection.  Each config file also tells getmail which folders to retrieve from (eg. “Inbox”, “[Google Mail]/All Mail”, “[Google Mail]/Sent Mail”, etc.);, to only get “unseen” messages; and in which format to store the messages, if not Maildir, then the native Gmail format, Mbox. Getmail runs every hour from a cron job and stores all new messages in the format of my choice: Maildir on my server.  The mail is then encrypted and backed up nightly with all my other data on an off-site server using Duplicity.

I know, I know… not everyone has a shiny tin foil hat like mine that reads “Caution: Geek Below!”  That does not excuse you from protecting your data.  There are many more less intense, more GUI based options to protect yourself.  Here are just a few:

• Gmail Backup
• Backing Up Gmail with Thunderbird Using IMAP
• BackupMyMail
• IMAP

The peace of mind and security you’ll get from backing up is worth the few minutes, is it not?

[Source DroidDog]

Check out the screenshots by clicking on the image below:

When your done, head over to Enomther’s AndroidSPIN Developer Homepage for more info and downloads